After reading reviews that it was the same owners as Curry Up Now, I was very hesitant to try this place. I personally think CUN is below average. This place is definitely WAY BETTER than Curry Up Now!

I tried two different dosas. The dosas were a good size and full of flavor. I do wish there was a little more filling in the crepe itself. I tried the UK (Chicken Tikka Masala) and the Tangra Noodles with Chicken.

Beware that the food is VERY VERY SPICY. I took a star off because at one point the spice took over any taste you could acquire.

Some people wrote that this place is not a traditional Indian cuisine. They never claimed to be! They have a fusion menu of Indian and Chinese. As a side note, CUN is Indian and Mexican.

I wish Chennai Club's location was better. This place would be booming if it were better located. They are on El Camino with minimal parking out front. Although parking may be difficult, the restaurant's actual lay out is a good casual dining atmosphere.

Dosa Republic has since changed names and become Chennai Club. It is also now better than ever!

Weekdays, weeknights, any time of day - it's always busy with a steady flow of customers and takeout orders, which pretty much guarantees fresh food, if nothing else.

Chennai Club has lots to offer! If you're looking for a dosa, or a traditional thali platter, they've got it! If you're craving spicy Indo-Chinese, they've got it! If you want rice bowl with some meat curry, they've got it! And interestingly...all of thr abkve is done very, very well.

The dosas are fantastic, as are the rice bowls, and Indo-Chinese. Appetizers include chaat and some other small plates, as well.

It's safe to say that we've probably tried everything on the menu thus far, and we keep coming back! I just wish it was located in a more prime location...

From the founders of Curry Up Now...but completely unlike Curry Up Now (in a good way). I loved Dosa…From the founders of Curry Up Now...but completely unlike Curry Up Now (in a good way). I loved Dosa Republic!!

I ordered the rava masala dosa, my standard first-time comparison dish. It held up to the Saravana Bhavan version, which says a lot. We also ordered samosas and vada. The masala in the samosas was quite intense and flavorful, but skip the vadas - a bit dry and chunky, these weren't a very good representation of the real thing.

P.S. Check in on Yelp for a free pineapple rasam dish. It was the most unique version of rasam I've ever had - so, so good!Read more

Tasty Indian Food in San Mateo. The place is really clean & price is reasonable. They have many options for spicy and non spicy lovers. The only concern is the location since it's on a busy street. Overall it's a great place to eat!

Admittedly, when I first saw that the menu contained South Indian, North Indian, and Indo-Chinese options, I figured that this restaurant had diluted themselves away from delivering excellent South Indian cuisine as the name Chennai Club would suggest.

I was pleasantly surprised by the meal, however. The Thali was on point, and needing to finish on something sweet, I had some Gulab Jamun to wrap everything up quite nicely.

This place is pretty awesome. I've been working my way through the Dosa list to try them all and I have yet to be disappointed. I originally came for the gluten-free options and I am glad that I did. The serving sizes were generous each time that I have ordered, so I've always had leftovers. Other then being stuffed like a turkey, I have no complaints.

What I've eaten so far: American Punjabi (GF) (The Republic of Dosa), Old Delhi Lamb (GF) (The Republic of Dosa), and a lunch time special fish curry dosa.

Heard it's under the same management as 'Curry up now' and boldly walked into this place on a weekend for dinner.

Ordered a lot of food - thali, gangra noodles(don't be fooled; it's only noodles wrapped in small dosas along with a choice of fried paneer/chicken), uttappam tacos, hakka noodles, dosa, fried dumplings in sambar(vada sambar), Bombay dust fried idli, etc. The names are as exotic and unique as those at Curry up now but the food falls way below their standards.

Paranormal Ghost dosa was awesome, very unique combination of the traditional masala dosa. I liked the Serano chili pakora (extremely spicy for nomal people, though). The American Chopsuey was amazing, having it this crunchy way after a very long time and really enjoyed it.

The bombay dust fried idli was so-so, didn't like it at all. So docking a star for having many fancy names for dishes that don't quite live upto their real reputations. Would definitely come back and try something else again.

This is a self service place with plastic utensils and uninspired workers when I came on a sunday evening, defiantly not real indian food compared to what I have eaten in the past though it was good but way overpriced in my opinion, those negivatives give it a modest 2 stars. Go here for indian/asian fast food but not for any kind of regluar dining.

This place rocks ! I had been here while visiting San francisco. This place was named Republic of Dosa earlier I think. They have wonderful dosas that has filling like chinese machurian/noodles and panner as well. This is like a fusion of south/north indian food with chinese flavors.

Gobi cualiflower chilli and serrano chilli pakoda are awesome for appetizers.we had a dosa with panner filling and another with noodles filling inside. both were cooked to perfection and tasted very delicious. Initially when entering the place, we felt the place was not maintained so well and had a bad vibe. However, after tasting the food, we changed our opinions.

This is a must to go when you are in the San Mateo area or in the north bay. Worth the drive.

Three of us ate dinner here last week. I ordered Sinhala paneer dosa, one friend ordered the UK panner tikka dosa and the other one ordered the chinese thali. I should say the chinese thali was great, not a single item disappointed. However, the same cannot be said for the Dosa items. Both the sinhala and the UK panner tikka dosa had about the same taste, the flavors were extremely muted.

More than Dosa. They have a wide ranch of offerings (from chinese chop suey to curry to snacks). It actually gave me a feeling of the offering I'd get when in Indian. A combination of street food to simpler entree. The prices were spot on. Not dirty cheap but fair and reasonable.

This is what I had on this trip

Masala chicken dosa - I am pretty picky about my dosa so this didn't quite do it for me although I know it's hard to get the consistency of dosa with it perfect light and crunch when it is stuffed. So this tasted more like a chicken, potatoes, burrito subbing tortilla wrap with dosa

Cumin lamb - has a kick and although the ownet climb it's curry don't expect a lot of sauce to dip with

Appetizer cauliflower - forgot the name but basically think general gao chicken flavor and breading but with cauliflower.

Gulam julab - fried dough bowl in syrup - came nice and warm with slices of apricot acorn nuts - good if you like this dessert

Mint ginger drink - winning esp since I was coming down with a cold - not too sweet so perfecy

I tried south indian food and thought that it was very average. I didn't like chutney or sambar. Uttapa was fine but nothing exciting. Service was good, no complaints. I did not try the Indian chinese but I don't think I will be back for that...

No more long drives for us to the South bay to get our south indian food fix. Chennai Club nails it with the south indian fare! The idlis, the dosas, the uttappams and the sambhar are all spot on. Haven't tried their North Indian dishes but i wouldn't be surprised if they aren't as good as the South Indian dishes. We tried the chilly chicken and it was not that great. They were previously owned by the same people as Curry Up Now, but looks like its owned by different people now. The service was very quick and our food came very quickly, they also deliver via fluc.com.

Fast food style Indian place that was quite busy at 8:30PM. To be fair, I didn't try their dosa, which seems to be what they make the most of. I got the cumin lamb ($11, comes with white rice and some vegetables) and their crispy garlic fried rice ($9). Both were pretty salty and mediocre. Both of these items came off their Indian-Chinese portion of their menu, which I was lukewarm on. The serving size / cost of the cumin lamb was fair -- it makes a complete meal with the rice and vegetables. The garlic fried rice tasted more or less like fried rice I can make at home, which makes $9 pretty steep given that there wasn't anything in it that really justifies the cost. Parking seems to be only side of the street and it's on El Camino Real so I guess convenience might vary by time of day.

As a plus, there's online ordering through the yelp mobile app and the order comes out pretty fast. The menu is also pretty extensive so I can only speak for 2 things they make.

Authentic Idli, uthappam and dosas. They were not particularly good with Chinese food. Chopsuey and chilli chicken were a big let down. The chicken was not fresh at all. But four stars for the South Indian Veg dishes.

Went here for lunch due to reviews. It was my first time eating dosa. I had the chicken masala dosa, enjoyed it quite a bit! Very flavorful and the sauces were good. I also had the seranno chili pakoda appetizer which was good -- breaded, fried serranos; kinda like a jalepeno popper minus the cheese. Place was clean, busy but not packed. I had take-out so I can't speak to service. But will return.

Chennai club, formerly the dosa Republic, has been a long time favorite for South Indian food around…Chennai club, formerly the dosa Republic, has been a long time favorite for South Indian food around San Mateo. They have the traditional dosas, my favorite being the Mysore masala dosa (Indian crepe with spicy potatoes and chutney filling) & the modern fusion kind including dosas with chicken, lamb, or vegetable curry fillings.I also like the vegetarian thali which is a big meal with 11 components including couple of chutneys, lentil soups (sambar & rassam), dosa, rice, yogurt, two vegetable curries, and dessert.The chennai club also does a decent job with their indo-Chinese food items. But, whenever I visit this place I prefer the more traditional dosas, which always satisfies my craving for a good South Indian meal and hits the spot!Read more

I am currently on a project in San Mateo for work, and my teammates and I have been here about 20 times over the last several months. We always leave full and happy.

I am gluten free so I can only speak to the GF items, but there are several options. I almost always get a dosa, and my favorite one is the American Punjabi Spinach w/ chicken. The chutneys are delicious. My coworker is vegan, and has many options as well.

I've never spent more than $15 dollars or waited longer than 10 minutes for my food. I highly recommend trying it out!

I've always wondered what it would be like to have dosa filled with meat and now I know. It's awesome. We split the American dosa which had butter chicken and saag inside and the old deli lamb dosa which had... lamb. I enjoyed both immensely and the slight sourness of the dosa batter added more than you'd think flavorwise to the whole experience. They're large portions too so leftovers are a real possibility.

I'd really like to go back and try more of their stuff as well as one of the traditional dosas.

Really good food, not spectacular, and the service is only okay. The prices are good, the place is pretty clean and the food has lots of flavor and it is a different kind of Indian food than we typically see. It was good, but I don't know if I'll be back when I come back to the Bay Area.

The Biryani was very spicy and they served dark meat chicken even though we asked them a million times that it was white meat.The fish curry was very spicy and sour and could not figure out which region this came from. The naan bread was a frozen version and not fresh at all. Not worth the price Very average ambience and food. Restroom was also pretty filthy.

I eat here once a week. I've tried most of the things on the menu, and they'reall consistently good. Prices are low for a meal, and I have to give them credit for having $1.50 fountain drinks rather than the usual $2.50 or $3.

There is probably something with gluten on the menu, but I haven't found it. I thinkthe dosas are all made with lentil flour, which is a lot better than wheat.

Once in a blue moon, they'll have lamb biryani for $11 or $12 (better than the $16 you pay elsewhere). Their biryani never LOOKS as good as elsewhere, but alwaystastes better.

They also have some interesting Chinese/Indian hybrid items.

I don't like their Uttabam as much as elsewhere, but there is nothing reallywrong with it.

All of their dosas are good, and a nice generous portion. Kids meals give you a really big portion for the price.

Desserts are all good too.

One item I've never had or seen elsewhere is the Bombay dust, or fried idli and itis well worth it.

The Rava dosa takes a long while to make, but good if you're willing to wait.

I have eaten here and by mistake my daughter left her book there and i followed up with them next day and they said they found it but do not know where they have kepti have been following from last 4 days n they do not have concrete answer

surprising if they are not careful about a book, i wonder what if i have forgotten my wallet there

The dosas in here are delicious. My fav is the United Kingdom one. Also a fan of the twice fried lamb. The menu changed recently and there's an asian fusion section now which has some Chinese/Indian combo dishes. All the dosas come with several tasty dipping sauces.

So my fiancé and I came in here and we were not expecting much as this was the only place open nearby on Christmas day and it looks pretty casual when you walk in; however, it was not only a delicious restaurant but it really was authentic South Indian food.

My fiancé and I love spicy Indian food, and we especially love dosa! So when we stopped by Chennai Club, we were surprised at how tasty the sambar, coconut, and spicy chutneys were. In addition, the masala (potatoes) had so much flavor and every bite was even better than the first. Now, I am prone to getting heartburn/ acidity after eating dosa and sambar at some places but even after sitting in the car driving from SF to LA, I was totally fine and would totally love to dine at the Chennai Club again.

FYI, if you don't like too much oil in your food, mention it to them. That is one slight change I would suggest next time I dine here, but overall excellent food!

Dat Dosa doe...woof! This place is absolutely killing it with a great fusion of (mostly) Indian and Chinese flavors. I found this place on Yelp after a search for Indian in San Mateo and I knew it wouldn't be the typical Indian buffet lunch that a lot of people are accustomed to around here. I was more than OK with this change of pace and was happy to check out their inventive and creative menu. The Veg Thali was like a 3.5-4 star, the dhal was definitely the saving grace of the 11 items (5-6 are sauces). The real show stopper here are the Dosas. They were cooked perfectly and filled with whatever your little heart may desire. The coconut chutney on the side was SLAMMIN good. This place easily shoots to the top of my list for go to spots for a Dosa fix. Read; not a fancy sit down place to impress people looking for white table cloths - but a place to impress your Indian friends who you know might be craving that perfect lunchtime snack! WIll definitely be back and I hope soon! Side note - my Dad ordered the noodles and chicken which was really a Chinese dish, not many Indian flavors really. Stick with the goodies here - dat Dosa doe

Past experiences at this place has been ok. But never visit this place on a Sunday. Place is deserted and food is mostly like leftover of previous day. If it's not busy , it's most likely not fresh. Also it would help if the guy at the counter had a little smile on his face!

Best South Indian taste in the Peninsula. Go with the regular Indian, not Indian-Chinese menu items. Really authentic flavors with barely a twist. The kale vada in sambar is fresh and out of this world tasty. Thali is also great, loved the accompanying lamb and chicken curries, though a bit under and over salted respectively. Spring veggie dosa is slim and not crisp, filling just ok. Would maybe pass on dosa here, seeking certain dosa specialty places for that Mysore masala dosa fix. Coconut and tomato chutneys are not quite as yummy as Spice Hut's, the former a bit thin in consistency, but are fine. Name and menu changed a few months ago but same great cooks. What a gem of an unassuming restaurant! Wish there were something like this in SF. There's good Pakistani-Indian up here, but less good South Indian food.

Note, this used to be Dosa Republic before Dosa sued them for name similarities and they gave up the long lawsuit.

The quality has improved a lot from Dosa republic days. However off late I think the quantities have reduced a little bit & the prices have gone up a little bit. Hopefully they don't keep doing this and lose customers like me. It will be another Annapoorna all over again.

I just got contacted by someone who claims to be employed by The Chennai Club, Destany F., aka Alyona, who asked me to take my negative review down, with the following message.

"Take dosa review off Chris you like to complain, don`t you? And you wish for each neg review u can get money back...oh, dear you can`t play with that. I think you are just a cheap scape and I can clearly tell it to your face as I am the one who helped you and all your friends get accommadated! But you paid first for yourself. The last college paid for every single person in group-BUT YOU. that`s why you are mad....cheap...cheap....cheap Alyona is my name, in case you change your mind"

If this person truly represents the business, I would avoid this place at all costs. If not, I am amazed at the lengths people will go to impersonate a business and not use Yelp's proper response system to address customer complaints.

As an aside, I left one small detail out of my review, but will include it now:

My boss' intent was to treat everyone to lunch that day, but before she was able to say this, I had already paid for my order in full. The inept person at the register didn't know how to combine our orders or refund my transaction, so my boss simply paid me in cash and we didn't make any issue of it. Funny how the restaurant went out of their way to call me cheap when they don't know the backstory, of course I thought it irrelevant to the review, until now.

I have gone here a few times with co-workers, both when it was Dosa Republic and now the…The Good:

I have gone here a few times with co-workers, both when it was Dosa Republic and now the new name Chennai Club. Most of these times I was treated to my meal so didn't notice the price.

The people at the counter are helpful and try to help.

The Bad:

For the $19 I spent at this place I could have got a full buffet of yummy Indian food. It's weird their once informative website now points to Yelp. Huh?!

The rice was steamed or brown. Seriously? This is not Indian food.

The Dosas are like crepes made into a pocket, fun at first, confusing to eat.

WTF style is Chinese Indian fusion? My palate may be different, but this food is very hot and spicy to hide how absolutely bland it would otherwise be. Most of it tastes like burnt chow fun dipped in a Moo shu or sweet hoisin sauce. It doesn't have the delicious curry or chutney tastes you'd expect from Indian food. It's like bad Cantonese trying to be something else.

Freshness:

This didn't taste fresh, it tasted like it had been prepared well in advance and sat around in a freezer all day before it was reheated for my lunch.

Coffee:

The Madras coffee was nowhere near what a Madras coffee should taste like, this was some cheap instant coffee knock-off, even supermarket chai tastes better.

Portions:

What I ended up for $11 was a cat-food dish sized sample which was supposed to be the elaborate lamb entree I ordered.

This thing resembled cubed meat (pork, maybe) with a sweet sauce that was extremely spicy. It had no taste of lamb at all. Being a new item on the menu, maybe they are experimenting. It kinda failed.

Most everyone else's Dosa order (which was cheaper than mine) were double the size portions that I had in front of me.

Naan:

I had to order Naan separately, because it didn't come with my plate? That's kinda lame. It was one slice (or half a slice, maybe, it was smaller than normal) of Naan that cost an extra $3. Grrr. When it arrived it looked weird, like a whitish-yellow pita, something not quite right here.

Rice:

The rice was white and steamed. The other option was brown steam rice. There wasn't any of the usual Indian style saffron rice.

Drinks:

The coffee and chai drinks taste like they were made from powdered mix (not fresh). The water was right from the tap and tasted chlorinated, served in a mason jar.

Seating:

When we all sat down together in a nice comfortable table (there were 5 of us) they insisted we move to one of the rustic picnic table setups. This was bad because 1 person in my party exclaimed they needed a chair with back support, and another person is a bit mobility challenged so had a heck of a time getting into and out of said picnic table bench, that was not cool of them at all. They did manage to bring a chair over for one of my friends. It would have been nicer if they let us stay where we were.

The noise level was bad, mostly due to the layout of the place and the decor. Some curtains or sound deadening in the ceiling or walls would do wonders.

Staff:

The wait staff didn't know what food went to whom. I asked to have my coffee brought out when the food was ready. However, they didn't. When I asked to have my coffee brought out, they gave it to someone else. Mine finally came about the end of the meal, and was in a metal cup and too hot to drink. It tasted like metal of course, I wondered if the cup leeched into the coffee or if it was really just that bad.

I won't go out of my way to visit this out-of-the-way place anytime again soon.

There's an adult bookstore next door called Secrets. Maybe I'll be back for that.Read more

Beware: they just changed their name from Dosa Republic to The Chennai Club due to another Indian restaurant in SF with the name Dosa. Same owners so no worries there if you are a loyal Dosa Republican.

New signage not up yet so hard to find if you haven't been there before like me. My wife and I wasn't sure what to get so asked the cashier for some recommendations. She recommended the American Punjabi w/ Chicken and the Cumin lamb stew from the unique Indian/Chinese section of the menu. Both were equally tasty, but I enjoyed the lamb a bit more. Super tender and rice was perfect.

Quick service, great food, reasonable prices so definitely recommend.

Only negatives is no towels in the bathroom and did not expect to hear Flo Rida in an Indian restaurant. :)